On the west side
of Downshire is Eastchapel, a quiet medieval village living in the shadow of
its noisy neighbour, the Industrial powerhouse of Northchapel, and on Boxing
Day it was even more quiet than usual, and it was snowing.
In fact, as
it was eerily quiet as Sharon Colligan and Duane Gingell conspicuously
stood in the corner of the bus shelter.
And it was conspicuous for the simple
reason that no buses ran to the village on Boxing Day, but then they weren’t
there for the bus they were there for the kissing.
“I have a
confession to make” Sharon said.
“Oh?” What?” Duane asked her “Are you Gay?”
“No, I am not
Gay” she said indignantly “Why, do I kiss like a Lesbian?”
“No, no you just
said you had a confession to make” he said defensively
“And you automatically
thought, Lesbian” she snapped “Why would a Lesbian be kissing a man in bus
shelter in this weather?”
“Fair enough,
sorry” Duane said, “Are you married then?”
“What? No, not
that I remember” she replied “I would hope if I were, I wouldn’t be standing in
a bus shelter kissing another man”
“Good point” he
said but she could have been married for all he knew, he hadn’t known her long
and they’d only had their fifth date on Christmas Eve and so there was still a
lot he didn’t know about her.
Sharon was new to the village, her
family had moved in to the house next door to his parents, a few weeks before
Christmas from somewhere in the Vale.
He liked the look of her from the first minute and asked her out, but it
took a couple of attempts before he wore her down.
It was kind of
an instant attraction thing, for him, and since the first attraction it had
gradually deepened and by Christmas he was head over heels in love with her.
They were on the
way to the village pub, The Grapes of Wrath, when they stopped for an intimate
interlude in the bus shelter, they were headed to the pub because they showed
live football in the bar and there was a huge match on.
It was an FA cup
2nd round replay between Northchapel Athletic and Finchbottom Forest
which was a first because neither team had been on TV before, and the prize
would be another first for either team, a tie in the 3rd round,
against, and if that wasn’t enough of an incentive, their opponents would be
Man Utd, so it was hugely important because Duane was Northchapel fan.
Everything was
going great when they were kissing in the bus shelter until she said she had a
confession to make.
“What then?” he
asked
“I’ve been dreading saying this” she said “But here goes”
Duane was really
worried, especially after she said she was “dreading it” and began to wonder if
he really wanted to know, and when Sharon took a deep breath Duane braced himself
“I’m a Forest supporter”
she said and closed her eyes and grimaced, it took a moment for the full
implications of her statement to sink in.
“I think I would
have preferred it if you were married, or a Lesbian, or a married Lesbian” he said,
and she moved close in to him and asked
“Do you mean you
would prefer a married woman to be in love with you rather than a Finchbottom
Forest supporter?”
“She loved me” he
said to himself and he wasn’t sure if that shocked him more than the fact she
supported Forest.
“I'm sorry” she
said “Not much of a Christmas present for my new boyfriend I’m afraid”
“You couldn't be more wrong” he said “It was the perfect Christmas
present, when you said you loved me”
Then he kissed
her and when they paused she said
“We’re going to
miss the match”
“It’s only a
game” he replied and returned to the kissing
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